1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a television control chip and a method for controlling a television set, and more particularly to a television control chip having a data protection function and associated method for controlling a television set.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most current multimedia contents are protected by copyrights. Thus, most multimedia playback apparatuses offer protection mechanisms for preventing or mitigating threats of piracy of the multimedia contents. Functions of commercial television sets continue to expand with the constant progress of technologies, and certain smart televisions even provide Internet functions. For those who intend to illegally obtain protected information, such function distinctly provides another data transmission channel, making the task of copyright protection even more challenging. Further, a smart television is usually equipped with an operating system, which inclines the smart television to invasions of malicious programs compared to conventional televisions. Malicious programs may sabotage a multimedia content protection mechanism built in the television set, and store the multimedia contents to an external storage apparatus outside the television via a storage interface of the television set, record the protected multimedia contents in a built-in storage apparatus via a personal video recorder (PVR) built-in the television set, or transmit the protected multimedia contents to a remote apparatus via the Internet.
In response to television sets with expanding functions, there is a need for a more comprehensive multimedia content protection mechanism for copyright protection.